To let lychee spread its fragrance in the cold windy season

“Ice Jade Lychee” - surpassing seasonal limits

Lychee - a specialty fruit of the province has long been loved by domestic and international consumers for its delicious flavor that is rarely found anywhere else. Therefore, lychee is present in more than 30 countries and territories around the world . However, the short season makes the product only harvested for about a month, causing regret for consumers who cannot enjoy it all year round.

Preliminary processing of lychee before preservation at Vifoco Import Export Joint Stock Company.

Based on his own desire and that of many others, Mr. Nguyen Duc Hung, Director of Toan Cau Food Import-Export Joint Stock Company, Phuong Son Ward, has cherished for many years the idea of preserving fresh lychees for a long time. It is known that Toan Cau Food Import-Export Joint Stock Company is one of the pioneering enterprises in the field of preserving and processing agricultural products for export. With key products such as sweet corn, soybeans, fruit juice and especially lychees, the Company has successfully conquered many demanding markets such as the United States, Europe, and Japan.

"This is a new direction, demonstrating strong innovation in the application of science and technology in agriculture . Thanks to these advances, lychee is no longer limited to the June and July crop season but can completely become a four-season product, serving the market demand all year round. The cooperation of businesses has contributed to raising the value of lychee, building brands and expanding the consumption market. In particular, lychee sold in winter has a value many times higher than in the main crop, a clear demonstration of the magic of technology in modern agriculture. If developed on a large scale, Bac Ninh can completely organize the Winter Lychee Festival" - Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Pham Van Thinh.

According to Mr. Hung, from the initial experiments with a few tons, the unit has now confidently preserved hundreds of tons of lychees to supply during the winter, opening up the opportunity to enjoy fresh lychees at any time of the year. This breakthrough product is named "Ice Jade Lychee" by the Company, the crystallization of modern preservation technology. Each lychee is put into a "hibernation" state at a temperature of minus 20°C, helping to keep the cell structure intact. When needed, the lychee is "awakened" at a temperature of 0-5°C, ensuring a perfect state transition, keeping the flavor and color intact. The company is also preparing to organize events, deploy online lychee sales in October, combined with delivery within 24 hours from the time the product "awakens" and can be preserved for another 48 hours in the refrigerator.

In addition to Toan Cau Company, Vifoco Import Export Joint Stock Company (Tien Phong Ward) also applies the technology to preserve lychee after a year, still maintaining its freshness, but only on a trial scale. Tasting lychee preserved from the previous crop, many people were surprised and delighted, feeling like the fruit had just been picked from the branch, fresh and sweet. Ms. Hoang Mai, a trader from Guangxi Province (China) shared that last March, she and a business delegation from Guangxi came to survey the lychee growing area of the province. Although at that time the lychee in the garden was just bearing young fruit, the delegation was still surprised to enjoy the sweet, cool lychee preserved from the previous crop by a local enterprise. According to Ms. Mai, this clearly shows a great step forward in the province's agricultural product preservation technology. If applied on a large scale, this technology will contribute to increasing the value of the fruit many times over.

According to Mr. Nguyen Xuan Viet, Director of Vifoco Import-Export Joint Stock Company, from the initial successes in preserving lychees for a long time, the company is gradually implementing a plan to expand its production scale. The domestic and foreign market demand for high-quality agricultural products is increasing, requiring the company to maintain quality and improve its supply capacity. This is considered a long-term step, contributing to the sustainable development of Vifoco in the coming time.

Expectations for the winter lychee festival

Bac Ninh province currently has about 30 thousand hectares of lychee, concentrated in the communes of Luc Ngan, Phuc Hoa, Yen The, Chu ward, Phuong Son... with an output of more than 100 thousand tons/year. In order to increase the value of this typical agricultural product, local authorities, businesses and people have unanimously implemented many synchronous solutions, from plant care, improving fruit quality, harvesting at the right time to fast transportation, ensuring products reach domestic and foreign consumers effectively. The State also actively accompanies through planning production areas, promoting trade and investing in infrastructure serving agriculture. In addition, many scientific research topics have been deployed, post-harvest preservation technology has been gradually applied, however, most products only retain their freshness for about a month.

Lychee after more than one year of preservation of Toan Cau Food Import Export Joint Stock Company.

In that context, the fact that some pioneering enterprises have researched and applied preservation technology to help lychee stay fresh for a whole year is considered a breakthrough. According to Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Pham Van Thinh, this is a direction that demonstrates strong innovation in the application of science and technology in agriculture. Thanks to this step forward, lychee is no longer limited to the June and July crop season but can completely become a four-season product, meeting year-round market demand. The cooperation of enterprises contributes to increasing the value of lychee, building brands and expanding the consumption market. In particular, lychee sold in winter has a value many times higher than in the main crop, a clear demonstration of the magic of technology in modern agriculture. If developed on a large scale, Bac Ninh can completely organize the Winter Lychee Festival.

Lychee - the pride of Vietnamese agricultural products, is one of the few unprocessed products to achieve 5-star OCOP certification, affirming its superior quality and brand value in the market. Not stopping at post-harvest preservation, the province also assigned specialized agencies and businesses to research crop regulation, aiming to bring lychee fruit to fruit in winter, a time completely opposite to the natural growth cycle of the lychee tree. If successful, it will be a major turning point, creating outstanding competitiveness for the product.

Article and photos: Trinh Lan

Source: https://baobacninhtv.vn/de-vai-thieu-toa-huong-mua-gio-lanh-postid429274.bbg